High prices could hold back Hawaii’s smart home technology growth

Nearly half of Americans will have smart home technology by 2015, according to a recent survey by Coldwell Banker Real Estate. However, Hawaii's expensive housing market could mean developers in Hawaii ditch the new gadgets.

The Coldwell Banker Smart Home Marketplace survey of more than 4,000 Americans showed that almost half either own smart home technology or plan to invest in it in 2016. The survey also revealed more than half of homeowners would purchase or install smart home products if they were selling their home.

However, Mike James, president of Coldwell Banker Pacific Properties, told PBN that in Hawaii “cost outweighs demand and this is something every developer takes into account.”

“In Northern California and Hawaii the affordability index is low,” James said. “There is an ongoing conversation about implementing smart home technology and its cost versus benefit.”

However, he said Hawaii is ahead of the nation in some areas.

“Hawaii is well known for its solar homes and they seem to embrace the new ideas very quickly,” James said.

According to the survey, most Americans think a home is “smart” if it has “smart security, temperature, lighting and safety.”

Hawaii may have solar technology on its side, but according to the survey, that is not enough for its houses to be considered smart. More than three-quarters of American think that having just one category of smart technology in your home isn’t enough to be labelled smart.

James added that Coldwell Banker has just begun to promote smart homes and is partnering with companies that install technology as part of a nationwide effort.

"The public is ahead of us and ahead of the industry," he said. "They have a yearning for it. At this stage almost every home has a flat screen ... it's becoming more and more affordable too and the same thing will happen here too."